MOMENT MAJOR
This Tiger Band drum major is inspiring the next generation of women in music.
PAVING THE WAY
How Catherine Mansfield became Tiger Band’s fourth female drum major
BY GABBY GRAY Staff Writer
Four iconic fanfare notes, 132 years of history and hours of practice.
All of this is led by a drum major selected every marching band season, and this year’s Tiger Band drum major is senior Catherine Mansfield.
Mansfield is studying art history who’s making her mark in LSU’s musical history as the fourth-ever female drum major to lead the Golden Band from Tigerland.
“I’m super passionate about performing and about music,” Mansfield said. “And also about uplifting young musicians — especially younger girls and women who maybe didn’t get the chance to do what they wanted to do in the marching band scene years ago.”
What it means to be a Tiger Band drum major
The first time Tiger Band ever saw a female drum major was in 1999, when Kristie Smith led the purple and gold instrumentalists. Following Smith one year later in 2000 was Mindy Hebert Aguillard. Fourteen years later came Mary Bahlinger Motes in 2014.
“It’s really special to me that we have that visibility,” Mansfield said. “I think it’s really important that girls know that they have a place in every level of the marching band.”
Marching band season is one that calls for vigorous levels of commitment from all its members, with hours of practice where every step, note and tune is perfected for performances.
If the band is gearing up for a home football game, Mansfield is responsible for directing its 325 members through eight hours of practice a week — an hour and a half each day and two hours worked in right before leading the members down Victory Hill in her pristine white drum major uniform.
Mansfield’s place in the band, like every other position, was one that was earned through an audition process. This year was her second time auditioning for drum major, having tried out for the role at the end of her sophomore season too.
“It’s about a week-long process,” Mansfield said. “The drum major process is a little more involved. They’re testing you on things like, ‘Do you know all the right tempos of all of the songs we play? Or the right speed?’”
In addition to those tests, directors also look for an understanding of the basic songs Tiger Band plays and a potential drum major’s ability to teach a group marching skills, followed by an interview and submitting a resume as well as performance
LSU Golden Band from Tigerland drum major Catherine Mansfield conducts the band Nov. 8 before LSU’s 20-9 loss to Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Al. videos.
Manfield also mentioned that in both times she’s auditioned for the role, she was the only woman that made it to the final round of tryouts, noting that, in her experience, the lack of women seen in the role comes from the lack of women actually auditioning.
Mansfield acknowledged that while many aspects of marching bands are male-dominated, there have still been great strides in female involvement within Tiger Band. She credited her band for having several women in leadership roles and every musician for having mutual respect for one another and their skills regardless of gender.
“My male peers, they’re very supportive, and I feel like they treat me like an equal,” Mansfield said. “I think that Tiger Band has done a pretty good job of making me feel welcomed and seen as a female performer and leader.”
The role of music in Mansfield’s life
Before finding her way to Tiger Band, music has always moved Mansfield’s life.
“My dad and a lot of his family are musicians, so he put me in piano lessons when I was five,” Mansfield said.
In addition to being a pianist, Mansfield found her way to the flute in the fourth grade, and a few years later, to the piccolo. As she grew up with instruments, her musical craft also influenced her choice of where she’d be attending high school in the New Orleans area.
Mansfield described the process of choosing a high school in New Orleans to be a large decision, especially if a student wishes to stay in the Catholic
education system, where schools are predominantly separated by gender.
She explained that most of the music programs available for all-girls schools included choir, but very rarely offered a band program. This led her family to send her to St. Mary’s Dominican High School, which featured an all-girls marching band, a group of musicians that went on to shape Mansfield’s skills as a leader.
She played both flute and piccolo for the St. Mary’s Dominican marching band, later serving as a co-drum major alongside one of her classmates during her senior year.
“I feel like being in a space that’s entirely devoted to bringing up strong, intelligent and independent women really allowed me to kind of go into the mindset of, ‘Yeah, I can do leadership, why wouldn’t I be able to?,’” Mansfield said. “I was used to being in an environment where everything centered around empowering girls in that way.”
Following her high school music career, Mansfield committed to LSU at the end of her senior year.
“Well, if I’m here, I might as well audition for the band,” she remembered thinking.
Mansfield earned a spot in the piccolo section, playing the woodwind instrument for a year as a section member. After her freshman year, she auditioned to be the piccolo’s section leader, a position she went on to hold for two years.
As Mansfield leads Tiger Band for her last year at LSU, it’s safe to say she’s made quite the impression on her peers as well as the band’s directors.
B-16 Hodges Hall
Serving as the associate director of bands and director of Tiger Band is Simon Holoweiko, Ph.D, whose career at LSU dates back to the last six years. He’s watched Mansfield grow through every step of her collegiate career.
“She’s one of the few people that have gone through Tiger Band as sophomore section leader, and that’s not super common in our organization,” Holoweiko said. “It certainly happens, but it’s not as common as having somebody who has more experience.”
Holoweiko positively credited Mansfield’s character, work ethic and overall values when it comes to leading Tiger Band, describing her as tenacious, communicative and respectful.
“It’s hard to manage 325 people during the course of the season,” Holoweiko said. “She’s someone who sort of takes the reins and owns the things that she really believes in, and wants to do really well for the band, the community and always wants to do well for LSU.”
While Mansfield serves both Tiger Band and LSU, she’s made it clear that it’s more than just about music to her, but about inspiring the next generation of women who will write the next chapter of the band’s story.
“The most important thing is to just block out the noise, and if there’s something that you want to do, just do it and try not to second guess yourself,” Mansfield said. “Surrounding yourself with like minded people who are going to uplift you through that is also really important. Don’t surround yourself with people who don’t take you seriously or don’t respect you as a musician or a performer.”
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NEWS GIVING BACK
Students give free Thanksgiving meals to community
BY KALEY MELANCON Staff Writer
LSU student organizations met the Baton Rouge community at its doorstep Sunday to hand out free Thanksgiving meals to those in need.
The Black Pre-Law Scholars Association teamed up with Athlete’s Mind, LSU’s Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and the Innocence Club to serve the community on a hot afternoon ahead of Thanksgiving.
In the parking lot of the Dr. Leo Butler Community Center, pans of turkey, yams, cornbread dressing, green beans, spaghetti and mac and cheese were spread across a table ready to be given away.
“Why not lend a helping hand if I got it,” said Roderick Robinson, BLSK’s volunteer chair.
Robinson said the organization felt it was important to help out following the government shutdown and continuous food bank shortages. He said he hopes it reached people who are not able to feed themselves.
Red Cross Club pushes safety, preparedness
BY TORI BONIN Staff Writer
From making Valentine’s for custodial staff to donating 181 fire alarms, LSU’s Red Cross chapter is a club dedicated to disaster prevention and relief.
LSU’s chapter of the wellknown disaster relief organization was founded by Mihir Babbar and Corinne David three years ago. While David has since moved on to LSU’s nursing school, Babbar, a senior studying biological sciences, currently serves as the club’s president.
and Corinne watched me walk in and they went over the entire meeting with me, even though they didn’t even know who I was and they didn’t know if I was gonna stay, and I just thought that was so meaningful.”
With over 175 active members, the club has seen a lot of growth and its impact spreads far past Baton Rouge. Since the founding of LSU’s chapter, Babbar has helped start eight other Red Cross clubs across the state, including chapters at Xavier University, Louisiana Tech University and Mandeville High School.
As music played, members of the organizations waved people down with signs that said ‘Free food’ as they drove by. One by one, people in the community came up to get a meal, a drink and a dessert.
The food and to-go boxes were provided by 4 On The Geaux Kitchen & Catering, while the drinks and desserts like apple and pecan pie and cake were brought by volunteers.
The club has continuous enrollment and encourages students from all backgrounds to join. Anastacia Gelman, a senior studying biological sciences, currently serves as a volunteer coordinator for the club. She recalls her first time showing up to a meeting and being welcomed by both Babbar and David.
For most people, the drive was
“I remember the first time I joined,” Gelman said. “I walked into a meeting right as it ended, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I just missed the entire meeting because I couldn’t find parking,’
“I’ve helped start about eight different Red Cross clubs within the state, from Xavier to Holy Cross to Southeastern, LA Tech, Mandeville High,” Babbar said. “Just to be able to spread the mission and get so many people riled up towards one organization, I think it’s so cool and it shows the power of when a lot of people get together and the impact they can have.”
Earlier this month the club held its “Sound the Alarm” event
SG senators question president over neutrality Engineering student said Nike internship was ‘dream come true’
BY MORGAN VANNOSDALL Staff Writer
Student senators voiced concerns Wednesday at the Senate meeting about Student Body President Lavar Henderson’s decision to neither sign nor veto certain pieces of legislation he said were “politically charged.”
The legislation focused on topics like a Charlie Kirk statue on campus, student involvement and transparency in the presidential search process and a call for the East Baton Rouge district attorney to drop all charges against the students arrested at an early presidential search meeting.
Henderson, who said he heard there were complaints in the Senate about his lack of signing, addressed the concerns during the meeting’s reports from the executive branch. Henderson explained his decision to neither sign nor veto the resolutions by naming his role as the student member of the Board of Supervisors, the board that governs LSU and is separate from SG.
Henderson said he stands for all opinions, which is why he says he is remaining neutral in addition to his position on the board. He requested that the senators use inclusive views in future legislation.
Sen. Alicia Cerquone, one of
the senators behind the four recent pieces of legislation Henderson did not sign, questioned his decision.
“Do you think that neutrality gets in the way of the promises you made when you were sworn into office?” Cerquone asked. “You swore to protect the interests of students.”
Henderson said he must manage each of his roles with discretion and that it’s important the language in legislation represents the entire student body.
“When it comes to the language in these resolutions, it would be best, just saying, for administrators to read it and actually digest it and be able to want to come talk about it,” Henderson said.
Sen. James Williams III asked whether Henderson chose to remain neutral by choice or if he was directed to not sign or veto legislation. Henderson said it was his personal decision.
The biggest question from senators was how to address this moving forward so legislation would be signed. Henderson said the language senators use in legislation must be adjusted to accurately represent the entire student body. He said language that is politically charged does not achieve this.
BY DREW SARHAN Staff Writer
An LSU mechanical engineering student landed a prestigious internship at Nike’s North American Distribution Center in Memphis, Tennessee this summer. Out of 70,000 applicants, only 200 were chosen for the internship — Colby Faust being one of them.
Faust, a senior from Denham Springs, did not expect to be chosen for the internship because many of the applicants picked were either Division I athletes or engineers from Ivy League schools like Harvard, Yale and Columbia.
“At first, I was like, hold on,” Faust said. “I can’t get a job at Nike because I’m a mechanical engineering student. But then I started looking into more roles and kind of what exactly the job description was. And I was like, ‘Oh wait, I do know how to do these things and I am part of this situation.’”
He said being chosen was a dream come true.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m about to work for Nike and be at one of the most prestigious internships that you can get here in college,’” Faust said. “It was a great day. I called my extended family, I called my parents. I didn’t really tell anyone I was in the process because I didn’t want people asking me about it that much in case I didn’t get it.”
As an intern, Faust was brought to the intern combine, a mock of the NFL combine, where teams look at various aspects of freshman athletes such as their speed, agility and passing ability to make draft decisions. The intern combine was at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, a suburb of Portland.
At the combine, interns were put into groups of five and given three days to develop a business proposal to present to higher-ups in the company.
“So [on] the first day, they pitch it, you meet your team.” Faust said. “The second day, you work on your project and on the third day you present, so it’s very quick, and it’s very fast. They give you a business case that you have to do and think of ways we can bring the next generation of athletes into Nike.”
Faust said mechanical engineers at Nike design, test and quality check their shoes in order to make sure that they are the best quality they could be for their athletes.
However, since Faust worked at Nike’s distribution center in Memphis, his job mainly consisted of working on different mechanisms to get products directly to the consumer more efficiently and effectively.
“On the engineering team, it was a mix of between industrial engineers and mechanical engi-
neers,” Faust said. “I would say just engineering concepts you learn in general and the way engineering schooling wires your brain and changes the way you think. [Those are] the things that I definitely applied into my internship.”
Faust enjoyed his time at Nike. He said that the goal of the brand is for anyone who dons Nike attire to feel like an athlete, even if you’re not a professional one.
“The leaders at Nike are very, very great,” Faust said. “They really are just there for the people, and they make sure that their employees are very happy and taken well care of, so my time was amazing. Growing up an athlete, it was
COURTESY OF COLBY FAUST
see NIKE, page 4
KALEY MELANCON / The Reveille
LSU students serve Thanksgiving meals to the community on Nov. 16 in Baton Rouge, La.
see RED CROSS, page 4
Student service group holds drive to alleviate campus hunger
BY JORJA ETHRIDGE Staff Writer
Food scarcity is a concern for some students. To combat this, the Student Philanthropy Council held a two-week food drive for the LSU Food Pantry.
SPC President Avery McLaughlin said she started noticing how long the lines were at the food pantry last spring, so she reached out to Jennifer Cristina, Campus Life’s manager of operations and the LSU Food Pantry.
McLaughlin, a psychology senior, said she and Cristina planned this food drive over the summer, not knowing then that the government shutdown would happen or how it would impact SNAP benefits. This food drive turned out to be perfect timing since the pantry has been struggling to keep its shelves stocked over the shutdown.
Cristina does not know which students use SNAP benefits since the pantry is not need-based, but she said the lines have significantly increased this year. The pantry is now seeing an average of 350-450 students per day, which is roughly 100 more than
RED CROSS, from page 3
where members visited over 75 homes and installed 181 fire alarms to help over 240 people. This year’s event took place in the 70805 area code where volunteers went from door to door educating people on fire safety.
Gelman was one of the many volunteers at the event. She recalled walking into the home of an elderly man whose wife had recently died and found his stove on.
“We walk in and his burner on his stove is literally just running and he didn’t even remember when he turned it on,” Gelman said. “So it’s stuff like that is why we do it. He didn’t have any smoke alarms in his house at all.”
With many of the leaders of the club soon graduating, other members will be stepping up to take more of a leadership role. Matthew Schexnayder, a junior studying biochemistry and the vice president of the club, said he is excited to take on a bigger role.
MEALS, from page 3
a pleasant surprise. Wanda Brown, 72, said she was on the way home from church when she saw the table. At first, she said she thought they were selling something and wanted to support.
It ended up being something better — a blessed meal, said Brown. Brown and her best friend, Joyce Brock, said they were grateful for what the volunteers were doing.
“It feels good knowing young people are out here serving the public,” Brown said.
The exchanges between the
this time last fall.
Cristina said the pantry is in need of everything, but the SPC specifically encouraged students to donate non-perishable items like canned goods, soups, cereals, rice and pasta.
McLaughlin said 22 other student organizations agreed to
“There’s a lot of opportunity to prove it to yourself that you can do it,” Schexnayder said.
“The club’s definitely taught me to be ready and to really prime yourself for success because you just never know when something bad could happen.”
Jackson Brandt, a junior studying biological sciences, serves as the club’s treasurer. He hopes that as the club grows it can expand financially to be able to do more for the community. This includes getting a club bank account so the group can host more drives and events to support both campus and Baton Rouge overall.
“I think a lot of effort goes into obviously starting the club,” Brandt said. “So I think now that it’s kind of more established, we can focus our efforts to making it bigger and greater.”
To join the Red Cross Club at LSU, students can follow its Instagram @lsuredcrossclub to be updated on upcoming volunteer events.
community and volunteers were short but full of gratitude. Whether they got to the center by car, bike or on foot, people made sure to emphasize how thankful they were.
At one point, a man asked permission to pray over the volunteers. Everyone gathered around, held hands and listened to the prayer. The man asked God to protect and look over the members in everything they do.
Another time, a woman stopped her car to see what was going on. After being offered a free meal, she declined and instead grabbed some cash to donate to the organizations.
help with the drive, and there were bins for students to donate food across campus. SPC’s goal was to collect 1,000 pounds of food. Cristina and McLaughlin said they should have the final count of pounds of food by Tuesday, but they expect to exceed their goal. As of last Monday,
NIKE, from page 3 kind of a dream come true … to see a brand that has been with me through some of my most lifedefining moments and actually be able to work there.”
Every year, Nike hosts “Just Do It” Day, a teambuilding day with sporting activities, visits from professional athletes and performances by high-profile musicians. In 2022, rappers Drake and Travis Scott performed and athletes like
HENDERSON, from page 3
Going forward, he said, there should be more conversations between the branches to come to an agreement.
Henderson said he didn’t want to veto the legislation because he appreciated the time and effort the senators put in. Henderson agreed that certain conversations were important, but if the legislation is worded in a politically-charged way, he said
This kind of service is rooted in everything the LSU fraternity does. Giovanni Kuegah, the community service chair, said participating in the drive was simply fulfilling its motto: “First of all, servants of all, we shall transcend all.”
Kuegah said it is always great to give back to those less fortunate, especially since some people in the area may not have the means to have a Thanksgiving meal. He said the giving doesn’t just end here.
“Doing one act of kindness to somebody may lead them to do another act of kindness to somebody else,” Kuegah said.
also participate in Thanksgiving activities like putting what they are thankful for on a gratitude wall, writing letters to other students or answering food pantry trivia.
McLaughlin said money from Student Government allowed the fundraising and service group to hold this event for students.
Freshman mechanical engineering major Mary Nguyen said she heard about this SPC event on Instagram. She wanted to see what the options are at LSU when it comes to food insecurity, especially after some SNAP recipients did not their benefits for a period during the government shutdown.
While Nguyen does not use the food pantry herself, she said she has friends that do, and tries to stay aware and help if needed.
they had already collected 624 pounds.
On Thursday, the day before the drive ended, SPC held an event in Free Speech Alley to raise awareness for the drive and food insecurity. Members gave out free jambalaya and brownies. Students who went could
LeBron James and Carmello Anthony attended.
“From my experience in Memphis, they had big groups of teams playing flag football, they had kickball, they had all kinds of sporting events,” Faust said. “They had a DJ out there, kind of a concert area, food, drinks. It’s just a day to celebrate Nike and celebrate the culture of the company.”
Faust said that there’s a lot of competition for these high-profile jobs at bigger brands like Nike,
it is not an accurate representation of all student opinion.
Speaker Pro Tempore Tyhlar Holliway questioned Henderson on this.
“You mentioned that you want to make sure that what is being sent to your office encompasses all student voices,” Holliway said. “This is a body that’s been elected by literally every college and majority students on campus. So my question is do you think our voices — Sen-
Members began pre-making plates for people to walk up and take. Eventually, they no longer waited for the community to come to them. Instead, members grabbed plates and walked down the street to meet people and put food right in their hand. Volunteers also stopped cars and handed food directly in their windows.
There were no questions asked and no judgment passed. It didn’t matter how many plates someone needed; members wanted to give all they could. Robinson said he did not want to go home with any food.
They met that goal and gave the leftover turkey bones to the
Cristina expressed her gratitude for organizations that are dedicated to supporting the pantry like the Food Recovery Network and SPC.
“I don’t know what I would do without them,” Cristina said. “It’s really great to see students taking the lead on this and making sure that their fellow students are taken care of.”
Adidas or Under Armour with many applicants coming from Ivy League institutions. However, Faust advised students not to let this stop them from chasing their dreams.
“Just do it,” Faust said. “As long as you work hard and put your best foot forward, you can do anything in this world. And my belief, work hard, keep grinding and just really stay passionate about what you’re doing. You never know where life is going to take you.”
ate voices — isn’t encompassing all students, even though these people have been elected to represent the students?”
Henderson emphasized his stance was not about the legislation’s content, but instead about what he called “politicallycharged” language. When Holliway asked for clarification on this, Henderson nodded to the bills that reference politicians and prominent figures to condemn them. He explained that
dogs and the last cases of water to the woman who got the last plate of the day.
Robinson said the organizations asked around for donations to supply the food and ended up raising around $500. He contacted Council Member Carolyn Coleman to get permission to host the event at the center.
Coleman said she was grateful Robinson approached her with the idea and that they were able to serve meals and she hopes to continue to work with the organization.
“With all that is going on with SNAP, these meals were right on time,” Coleman said.
JORJA ETHRIDGE / The Reveille
Student Philanthropy Council members give out free jambalaya at their event supporting a food drive in Free Speech Alley on Nov. 13, in Baton Rouge, La.
ENTERTAINMENT
This graduate’s small business is now sweetening Highland Coffees
BY MIA HATTAWAY Staff Writer
From blending nuts in their Georgia kitchen to selling their products on LSU’s campus, LSU graduate Min Yoo and his partner Janet Sanders have transformed their snacky sidequest into the Buttered Nut, a successful small business.
The couple began making the nut butter in May of 2024, when Sanders brought a jar home to try to add a new addition to her vegan snack rotation. While the nut butter that they bought didn’t taste particularly good and had unnecessary sugars, it laid the foundation for what would become the couple’s small business.
“Vegan people know how to make things taste good,” Yoo said. “They’ve got to be creative.”
Starting with a blender and all clean ingredients, the pair crafted an assortment of flavors and started selling them at their local farmer’s market. Eventually, they started selling out of six different stores across Georgia and Florida.
When Yoo and Sanders first toyed with breaking into the Louisiana market, the LSU alumni knew the perfect spot.
“The first place that I thought of in Louisiana was definitely Highland Coffees,” Yoo said. “When I was in school, it was either CC’s Coffee at the library or Highland, especially if you wanted to go outside of campus.”
Knowing how impactful Highland Coffee is on campus, it felt like both an homage to his college career and a way to reach students who are looking for ways to eat clean food.
“I think providing that squeeze pack could be a good, healthy option for the students,” Yoo said.
While you can eat the nut butter as a snack in and of itself, it also proves to be very versatile.
“People put it on toast, smoothies, overnight oats or just oatmeal,”
Yoo said. “Some people put it on their ice cream even, and they do baking with it — baking cookies, brownies, things like that.”
The couple took inspiration from their favorite desserts for their initial flavors, blending Yoo’s cultural upbringing in South Korea with Sander’s American customs.
These include strawberry soft cream cake, black sesame, sea salt brownie batter and peanut butter cookie. Both the sea salt brownie batter nut butter and peanut butter cookie nut butter are sold at Highland Coffee. As they’ve developed, they have also added cheesy garlic baguette, pistachio cream and matcha-nut, which are available to purchase online.
Yoo knows the value of intersecting cultures firsthand. In high school, he signed up for an exchange student program and was chosen by a Louisianan host.
“Everybody outside of the United States wants to come to the United States,” Yoo said. “It’s the best country in the world. They want to experience it; they want to learn the language; they want to experience the culture.”
Being an exchange student didn’t come without its challenges, though.
“Back in the day, especially in high school, I was one of the only Asian kids,” Yoo said. “There aren’t many Asian people in Baton Rouge, especially Korean. We used to say Koreans in Baton Rouge are like unicorns: You know that they’re there, but you never see them.”
Despite this lack of representation in town, Yoo thinks Korean culture is a large aspect of why Buttered Nut is standing out to customers.
“Korean culture is growing,” Yoo said. “Korean food is growing, Korean influence is growing, so I think having some of the Korean flavors helps.”
After graduating from high school, LSU seemed like the natural next step. Though he started
freshman year as an international studies major, he would have a very unconventional college career.
Once Yoo finished his freshman year, he served in South Korea’s military for two years for his mandatory conscription. Coming back to LSU, he made the switch to chemical engineering and graduated on track.
“I gained a lot of confidence, because I thought it was impossible,” Yoo said. “Everybody said it’s not likely for me to graduate in time coming back from the military, changing majors and all of that, and I was able to do it. Once I did that, I felt I could do anything, really.”
Yoo values the power of being present in your everyday life and seeing where the wind takes you in order to be successful.
“Things come to you,” Yoo said. “I never thought I would make nut butter and would be selling at the farmer’s market or going to stores, you know? I thought if I do something, it may be with engineering consulting, but I am selling nut butter on the side — hopefully full time one day.”
For more information, visit Buttered Nut’s website.
COURTESY OF THE BUTTERED NUT
The Buttered Nut products being sold at Highland Coffees in Baton Rouge, La.
COURTESY OF THE BUTTERED NUT
The founders and owners of The Buttered Nut, Min Yoo and Janet Sanders.
The Tigers take a 23-22 victory over Arkansas Nov. 15 at Tiger Stadium.
LSU football head coach Frank Wilson waves to the fans.
LSU football sophomore quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. (11) and senior wide receiver Barion Brown (6) celebrate.
LSU football sophomore quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. (11) runs the ball.
Photos by Hinesley Bryant | Spread by Rei Zimmerman
Need winter outfit inspo? Here’s how to level up your wardrobe
BY SARAH WALTON Staff Writer
It’s been cold, arguably freezing for Louisiana, as fall turns into winter. With the change of weather comes a need for a change in wardrobe. When it comes to winter clothes, two of the most important things to remember are warmth and style. Here are a few outfit ideas to keep your winter wardrobe practical and pretty.
When it comes to locating the perfect boot, you don’t always have to drop hundreds of dollars online. It might take a little bit of trial and error, but thrift stores — especially Goodwill — often hold the holy grails of boots. I am always a proponent for affordable and sustainable ways to add to a wardrobe, and this is one of them. Whether they are Uggs, knee high leather boots, moon boots or docs, boots are always a great way to keep your feet warm and add style to an outfit.
Two of the arguably best universal pieces for a winter wardrobe are long skirts and sweaters. Both are easy pieces that can be added to any outfit, perfect for blocking the cold. One can never go wrong with a nice sweater, and skirts bring a winter charm no one can disagree with.
In a world of boring and cold outfits, try something new and add some leg warmers. Bring some balletcore into your life by adding on top to any outfit. Leg warmers look especially good when layering them on or in boots, as well as with tights and skirts.
Some days may be colder than others, but something to remember is that a scarf can help pull any look together. Instead of relying on a sweatshirt or sweater, wear a knit or wool sweater to add just the right amount of warmth to a winter outfit.
For many, they may be known as something else, maybe a penny lane coat, but the original comes from Afghanistan. Popularized during the 60s and 70s by artists like the Beatles, Afghan coats have become one of the most stylish coats of the season. Adding a coat to some jeans and a top, a dress or a simple hippie look can do absolute wonders.
It may seem kind of unserious and for some, too extra, but winter capes and coats can be interesting and bring a little bit of whimsy to an outfit. It goes well with layering for other outfits, and it’s much less restricting than a normal coat.
The Self Care Fair invites Tigers to unwind, snack and be well
BY LANA LAWSON Staff Writer
Self care is a crucial element that all college students should practice to maintain peace during the usual semesterly chaos. For those who may not be familiar, however, the Student Health Center was ready to help with its Self Care Fair in the library on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
This event featured plenty of activities for students to take a minute to de-stress in between classes, such as pumpkin painting, sensory bins and coloring sheets. The real stars of the show, however, were the emotional support water bottles that students were able to decorate. These tumblers were a hit and the event ran out before the first
hour. The fair ran from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., but since it was advertised that only the 150 students would be able to receive a tumbler to decorate, students began to line up before doors opened.
Health Center Wellness Coordinator Carli Dilorenzo helped run and coordinate this event with the help of the Health Center’s peer educators She is a strong believer in self care, especially for LSU students.
“Self care is everything,” Dilorenzo said. “It’s really easy to get burnt out with all the stuff that students have going on.”
Dilorenzo said that this event was designed to teach students how to incorporate minor yet impactful self care habits into their day to day. She believes that small tasks, like remembering to drink water, are healthy habits to implement into daily life — which was exactly what inspired the Health Center staff to bring out the emotional support water bottles.
“I just want them to learn one new self care act, whether that is using a fidget toy for anxiety, or if it’s trying out the tea that we gave out for helping calm students, or staying hydrated with the water bottles,” Dilorenzo said.
Beyond the customizable water bottles, students were also able to create their own self care toolkits from “Self Care Bar,” a table loaded with fidgets, sensory items, pins with affirmation and journals. Be -
hind this ingenious idea was Jasmine Garrison, a graduate assistant at the Health Center.
“I always tell people, ‘Take care of yourself before anybody else,’” Garrison said. “It’s a very tough world out there, so anything [students] can grab and use to calm down, take it.”
Garrison and Dilorenzo both advised students at the event to take advantage of the on-campus resources available if they are stressed or just need support.
“If you are stressed about time management, we have a bunch of resources here on campus for students that are free for them to reach out to,” Dilorenzo said. “We help students meet them where they’re at and kind of help guide them manage that stress level. So I highly recommend using your resources. Reach out.”
The Student Health Center hosts frequent events like these as a way to give students relief during stressful times in the semester. If you missed the Self Care Fair in the library but are still looking to get some wellness support, the center is happy to help students relax and unwind at any point in their journey at LSU.
“Classes can be very stressful, especially towards the end of the semester,” Dilorenzo said. “So we want to make sure that you guys are aware of all the resources you guys have to help prevent that burnout from happening.”
Long skirts and sweaters
Boots
Leg warmers
The magic of a good scarf
Afghan coats
Winter capes
CARMEN RANDOLPH / The Reveille
COURTESY OF LSU HEALTH CENTER
Students hold up Student Health Center water tumblers and goodie bags from the Self Care Fair.
COURTESY OF LSU HEALTH CENTER
Students paint pumpkins at the Self Care Fair.
SPORTS
TAKE AWAYS 3
BY TRIPP BUHLER Staff Writer
The Golden Boot is staying in Baton Rouge after the Fighting Tigers of LSU defeated Arkansas for the fourth straight year.
Michael Van Buren Jr. was given the keys to the offense in his first start at LSU and made many plays with his arm and his feet to help the Tigers win.
Here are three takeaways from the Tigers’ close victory.
Caden Durham and Harlem Berry are lethal
“I promise you, we will run the ball,” Frank Wilson said in his first press conference after being named interim head coach.
LSU’s two main running backs did their duties and more on Saturday.
Sophomore Caden Durham and freshman Harlem Berry are a duo that have seen differences in play-
FOOTBALL
ing time this year, but were complementing each other all throughout Saturday’s win.
Durham’s 27-yard touchdown run to open the second quarter was the longest offensive play for the Tigers in the first half. He also had the longest reception of the half at 22 yards.
His final stat line saw him score the only rushing touchdown, along with recording 65 yards off 12 carries.
As he nears the end of his second season in the purple and gold, his role becomes evermore significant in the Tiger offense and was the clear mover on Saturday. His ability to jumpstart the run game gave Van Buren an easier time in the pocket.
Van Buren was often rolling to his right, where his running backs were ready to assist with blocking or receiving. This is where Berry stood out early.
His three receptions for 24 yards were all in the first half. He stepped up his run game in the second, finishing with 52 yards on 11 rushes. On the final drive of the game, he slid and gave up a touchdown in favor of letting his team kneel out the clock.
“Harlem pops a big one and won his 1-on-1, and it helped propel us to victory,” Wilson said after the game.
The duo also powered the lastminute push to take the lead at the end of the first half. They started the drive, each with a 14-yard rush that almost carried them into Razorback territory. Berry exhibited his patient running style to find holes and improve his gains.
Redshirt freshman Ory Williams made his first career start at right tackle after only playing 58 snaps before Saturday. The shaken-up offensive line crew has been troubling for the Tiger offense before, but it looked to benefit the young running
backs.
Special teams is a dice roll
The third phase of the game is often overlooked, but it proved imperative in this game.
Kicker Damian Ramos came into this game 17-21 on the year. Against Texas A&M, he made his lone field goal from 30 yards out but uncharacteristically missed an extra point. Last week, he went 3-for-4 against Alabama.
Saturday resembled the Alabama game and his 2024 game against the Razorbacks, in which he made four field goals, a personal best in a single game. His three field goals were spotlit by his 50-yarder. Two more makes both came from 42 yards out.
The sharp game from Ramos silenced skeptics, but those uncertainties became focused on punter Grant Chadwick and kickoff specialist Aeron Burrell.
Football makes narrow comeback over Arkansas
BY AINSLEY FLOOD Deputy Sports Editor
LSU and Arkansas’ annual Battle for the Boot on Saturday looked very different from years past.
Last time the two met, LSU brought itself to a 6-1 record with a ferocious 34-10 victory in Fayetteville. This year, the Tigers were 5-4 and entered Tiger Stadium under an interim head coach.
The Razorbacks were in a similar boat, though. The team lost seven straight games and, hence, fired its head coach.
On Saturday afternoon, backup quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. earned his first start with LSU. The team was forced to fight from behind until the fourth quarter, when it took a one-point lead over Arkansas, which eventually sealed a 23-22 victory.
“We had what it takes to win this game,” interim head coach Frank Wilson said in his post-game press conference. “I am so proud of this team and how they represented themselves and this university in a never-say-die spirit.”
In his final season with the Tigers, Garrett Nussmeier’s inability to lead the offense to success has left questions about his position as the starting QB when a healthy Van Buren was sitting on the sidelines.
LSU’s last three opponents showed no mercy to an error-prone offense and a defense losing its confidence. Van Buren was assigned clean-up duty, with late-game appearances against both Texas A&M and Alabama.
Wilson planned to keep it that way, but when Nussmeier aggravated an injury in Thursday’s practice, Van Buren finally got his shot at playing a
full four quarters.
Defense was quick to set the tone in Arkansas’ first drive. Short passes got the Razorbacks down to LSU’s 26yard line, but Jack Pyburn recovered a loose ball for the turnover.
With its backup QB at the helm, the offense immediately showed signs of struggle and couldn’t push past the first 10 yards. Forced to punt, an already bad situation took a turn for the worst.
The ball was blocked, recovered and returned for an Arkansas touchdown.
The cycle continued as the offense immediately threw away another drive. Only one of Van Buren’s three pass attempts was completed, and that wasn’t enough to get the home team a down. LSU punted again.
Soccer dominates in NCAA first round
BY DELANEY POTTHAST Staff Writer
Following a nail-biting loss in the SEC championship finals, LSU soccer turned around for the first round of the NCAA Tournament on its home pitch in Baton Rouge.
In a battle against the underdog Houston Christian Huskies, the Tigers seemed to reharvest their SEC momentum to take the 4-1 win over HCU.
Freshman Sariyah Bailey led the Tigers with two goals, which brings her to nine total on the season, and her already successful freshman campaign to the next level.
“This team is absolutely amazing across all lines,” Bailey said. “We’re going to prove everyone wrong, and we are going to win this because we get a second chance.”
A home team that dictated the match with relentless pressure and attacking play, LSU showed controlled possession with chance after chance, never letting the visitors settle. By the final whistle, that dominance was clearly reflected.
As the first half took off, the Tiger offense quickly became the star of the show. With increased patience behind the ball, LSU was quick to take chances on HCU’s goalkeeper Emmy McKeon, having a shot on goal just one minute into the game.
With such momentum, the Tigers were presented with multiple scoring opportunities but failed to capitalize on any of them early on, as offside calls pestered the home team through the first 15 minutes of play.
BRYANT / The Reveille LSU football fifth-year senior Damian Ramos (34) prepares to kick a field goal on Nov. 15 during LSU’s 23-22 win against Arkansas at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.
The first real scoring chance came from a scramble inside the Husky box. The Tigers managed to keep the ball in, and a tap by senior Ída Hermannsdóttir sent it over the line and to the back of the net. The celebrations were short lived, however, as an offsides invalidated the goal.
As LSU continued the search to be first on the scoreline, the Husky defense put up a fight. McKeon, a sophomore out of Kaysville, Utah, collected six saves on the night to finish with a season total of 90.
Even against McKeon’s 0.832% save percentage, the Baton Rouge team managed to get on the board first.
Bailey took a shot parallel to the goal and sent the ball across through to the bottom right corner of the Huskies’ net.
While continuing to look for more offensive production before the end of the half, the Tigers worked to maintain ball possession
ERIN BARKER / The Reveille
LSU football sophomore running back Caden Durham (29) runs with the ball to score a touchdown on Nov. 15 during LSU’s 23-22 win against Arkansas at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.
SOCCER
HINSLEY
FOOTBALL
How CJ Jimcoily is a leader off the football field through faith
BY ISABELLE CALLAHAN Staff Writer
In the heart of Baton Rouge, amid the intensity of SEC football, CJ Jimcoily plays for something bigger than himself: faith.
Faith not only in himself, but also in God’s plan for him — and this is something that doesn’t go unnoticed in the locker room. Jimcoily’s faith has started to resonate inside LSU’s football facility, where his quiet confidence turned heads early in the season.
The rookie talent show is an annual event to help foster new chemistry and growth within the team. Typically, players get up to the stage and rap, sing or even perform magic tricks.
Jimcoily did something never seen before: He got up on the mic and preached for 10 minutes without stopping.
At the end of his time, the room was rowdy with cheers. Jimcoily commanded attention from his new teammates, but his goal isn’t to force anyone into anything; it’s to encourage people to listen to him, to hear his message and take it into their hearts.
It also isn’t about spreading one specific message for Jimcoily; it’s
TAKEAWAYS, from page 9
Chadwick’s first punt attempt was blocked right off his foot and taken back for an easy Arkansas touchdown to open up the scoring in the game. His second was shanked and only went 24 yards, barely reaching Arkansas territory.
Burrell had a missile where his right leg should be. Normally, his kickoffs find the grass in or behind the end zone, but he had two go out of bounds on Saturday.
LSU had zero return yards and no attempts. Zavion Thomas also had a head-scratching fair catch at his own 8-yard line at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The special teams’ unsettling performance helped keep this game within reach for Arkansas until the very end, but it was not the final detriment.
SOCCER, from page 9
in Husky territory. Even so, HCU put up a fight to hold the Tigers to a one-goal lead as the first buzzer sounded.
Holding an 8-0-1 record when leading at the start of the second half, the Tigers returned to the field looking to add another win.
LSU brought back most of the key players from the night’s starting 11 for the second half, though they made a switch in goal with Scheving being swapped for Sophine Kevorkian. Scheving, who earned one save on one shot in the Tigers’ box, has totaled 34 saves on the season, with 11 saves in postseason play alone.
Junior Ava Galligan, who leads the team in goals scored this season, did not return for the second half. Senior Sydney Cheesman also did not see a second half start.
PAYTON PRICHARD / The Reveille
LSU football freshman safety CJ Jimcoily (31) stands on the field during LSU’s 19-24 loss to Ole Miss Sept. 27 at the Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.
about planting a seed of faith similar to the one he was given by his father many years ago.
“I feel like a better way to look at it is just like planting a seed,” Jimcoily said. “There are some responsibilities and roles you can play, but you cannot go into any man’s heart and decide anything for them.”
For the freshman athlete, faith isn’t just something he turns to on Sunday mornings or for pregame prayers. It’s the core of who he is be-
Short passes make the offense look weak
It had been an issue with Garrett Nussmeier, Joe Sloan and Brian Kelly all year.
None of those three played a part in what transpired on Saturday, but the offense was seeing ghosts of the past.
Short passes up the middle, screen passes and anything else that makes an offense look incompetent were still present in Saturday’s win against the Hogs.
Over half of Van Buren’s passes were of 10 yards or fewer. While these were generally successful in moving the ball, only a sparse number went far. The lack of clarity on who is making these decisions to play small ball, especially after coaching changes, only makes this more confusing.
Van Buren did throw his deep
The few changes on the field didn’t seem to falter the Tigers, as they picked up right where they left off with continued offensive momentum.
“It doesn’t matter what 11 players are on the field for us, they’re going to empty the tank.” head coach Sian Hudson said.
Just five minutes into the half, a scuffle in front of the Huskies’ net saw a stumble from Hermannsdóttir, but a quick ball recovery by midfielder Gabbi Ceballos gave leeway for a left foot shot to make it past McKeon, putting LSU up to a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers slightly shifted toward defensive play against a pressing HCU offense, but they still held the majority of ball possession.
It wasn’t until the 67th minute that the Huskies had finally broken through the superstar Tiger backline when a steal by HCU’s Ella
the foundation for my faith.”
For a player still adjusting to college — balancing classes, practices and exposure that comes with playing college football — Jimcoily carries himself with a presence that feels much older than his age. He speaks with the calm of someone who has already found his purpose, even as the world around him is still learning his name, and takes the time to ensure his education is of the utmost importance alongside his football ambitions.
Although Jimcoily’s athletic talent is at the forefront of major headlines about his journey, it was his faith that pushed him to ensure that no matter what is happening in his life, whether it be football or personal, education will always have a place at the table.
cause of the seed planted long ago by his father, one that now blooms in everything he does.
“As I spent more time with my father, he would always quote scriptures, but he wouldn’t do it verbatim. He would use it [in] how he would [teach] things, and kind of just actions,” Jimcoily recalls. “So, I got a taste of what God has taught and what he commands of us in a way, and what he rewards us with. I give all props to my dad for that, that was
balls well and with confidence, so why not let him go out there and do it time and time again?
It seems like the playcallers are scared of a high-risk, high-reward play. Most screens and checkdowns were working well because of the aforementioned success of Durham and Berry. If they were not on their A-game, those short passes could have been the kryptonite for the Tigers.
The scared playcalling will not strike fear into defenses like LSU should be able to do, no matter the quarterback. Nussmeier’s injury could have been a reason for shorter passes being drawn up, but that should not have affected this game like it did.
If the starting quarterback for LSU isn’t fighting an injury, let him sling it. If he is hurt, sit him and play the next man up.
Remy allowed for a shot to be sent directly into the net, cutting LSU’s lead in half.
Looking to extend their lead once more, the Tigers pushed to reignite the attacking energy they opened the match with.
It didn’t take LSU long to find it. With traffic crowding the Husky net, a shot by Bailey slipped through and into the back of the net, marking her second of the match. Just 17 seconds later, Ava Amsden found Hermannsdóttir, whose left-footed strike went just out of McKeon’s reach and pushed the Tigers’ lead to 4-1.
Outshooting the Huskies 29-3, it was clear that the Tiger offense had controlled the game. Now totaling 50 goals on the season, 13 of which have come from the postseason alone, LSU will next face Iowa on Thursday, Nov. 20 in hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals.
In the tub rooms of the recovery facility, instead of the usual rap music, the sound of worship music often fills the space.
What makes Jimcoily’s story so moving is that his influence is subtle — it’s not in fiery, constant speeches to push belief on others, but rather in the quiet examples he sets. Whether he’s studying film, sitting in the classroom or walking off the field of practice, his steadiness seems to leave an imprint.
For LSU, a program built on grit and glory, Jimcoily brings a sense of grace. Although his freshman season is still underway, his story is already showing people what leadership off the field looks like.
So far, Jimcoily has made an appearance in every game this season.
“Education is a big thing for me; my dad growing up was always telling me, like if I make anything less than an A, you might not want to come home,” Jimcoily laughed about.
“But that became a very big and important thing for me, which kind of helped me in my development overall, is a big focus on my education.”
Through team Bible studies with the LSU football on-staff pastor, the shift has been evident as the team taps into their faith more than before.
BOOT BATTLE
, from page 9
After two fourth-down conversions and advancing to LSU’s 11-yard line, Arkansas’s offensive drive ended in another touchdown.
“My pregame speech to them was saying when adversity hits you, you find a way and will a way and keep punching,” Wilson said. “The reality is you have to earn everything you get, and they will not give it to you.”
Van Buren and the receivers finally found a rhythm just as the first quarter concluded, picking up 48 yards. The Tigers picked up at 2ndand-10 with 32 yards to go.
For Caden Durham, that was nothing. On the first play of the second quarter, Van Buren tossed the ball to the running back, who weaved through the defense and ran 27 yards to the end zone. Kicker Damian Ramos set the score 14-7.
Later in the second, he was brought out again for a 50-yard field goal attempt, which he drove between the posts. Ramos would go 3-3 on his attempts, including two from 42 yards out.
As Van Buren and the offense progressed, so did the defense. Most notably, it recorded two sacks and two turnovers in the second quarter, one of which was a Mansoor Delane interception on 2nd-and-9 right in front of Arkansas’ end zone.
The defense continued to make key turnovers in crucial red zone situations. An 87-yard drive in the third quarter was highlighted by a 55-yard rush by Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green. With a single yard between the ball and the endzone, LSU held them to 4th-and-1 and made the block in the big play.
Yet, that wasn’t always the case. Back within striking distance, an Arkansas running back made the 9-yard rush necessary for another touchdown. The Razorbacks went for
As LSU marches closer to the end of the season, the freshman safety continues to plant those seeds in teammates, coaches and fans. Maybe the next great story at LSU won’t just be about a player chasing a championship, but about a young man chasing something higher along with it.
In a sport that mostly celebrates the flashiest plays, Jimcoily is showing that sometimes the most powerful moments are rooted in quiet faith, steady hearts and courage to believe.
the extra two points, which Green converted on a rush.
LSU’s offense didn’t have as much success with the red zone, only managing two attempts in the entire game compared to Arkansas’ four.
But a monstrous offensive drive in the fourth saw the Tigers make up 91 yards, and finally in the red zone, a 12-yard pass into the end zone landed right in the hands of tight end Bauer Sharp to tie it up 22-22.
For the first time all game, LSU took the lead after Ramos’ kick was declared good.
The Razorbacks’ final Hail Mary was a 48-yard field goal attempt, but their fate was practically sealed when the ball went wide.
“Remarkable day for our university and our football team,” Wilson said. “One that displayed resiliency and toughness. All things that make us Tigers.”
Van Buren got the perfect ending to his debut as the starter. Going 21 for 31 on pass attempts and a total of 221 yards, he has made a real case to keep the role. He proved he can use his legs with 36 rushing yards.
“[Van Buren] knew what was in front of him,” Wilson said. “He got comfortable and began to take control of the game, of the football team, and picked up huge yardage at opportunities in rushing and great throws at times as well. I was proud of him. I thought he played admirably and got the game into a point where he was able to affect change and dictate for our football team.”
In a season full of adversity, LSU proved its endurance in a grueling battle back, retaining the team’s title as the reigning champions of the Boot.
“It’s football,” Van Buren said after the game. “ Sometimes you go out there and you have a slow start and have to settle in. We were able to fight through adversity.”
The ‘Kirkification’ of Charlie Kirk prompts questions about digital grief
SAVOY’S SCOOP
CADE SAVOY Columnist
Charlie Kirk engendered as much chaos in death as he did in life. After the pseudo-intellectual was assassinated this September, America erupted into vitriolic debate over the value of Kirk’s shortlived career.
To conservatives, he became a martyr: President Donald Trump ordered the American flag to be flown at half-mast, Vice President JD Vance embraced Erika Kirk on live TV and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry challenged LSU to put a Charlie Kirk statue on campus.
As someone who found Kirk insufferable, I breathed a sigh of relief when the LSU Student Senate unanimously voted against the statue on Nov. 5. Surely, I thought, we could finally let the dead lie — and make Landry shut up for a while.
That was until I logged into my X account and saw Kirk’s face grafted onto ex-Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Assad isn’t alone: “Kirkification” — the practice of using AI to superimpose Kirk’s face onto another person — has taken over the internet, primarily as a means of poking fun at the dead man’s supporters.
To be clear, I’m not up in arms about “Kirkification.” I think Charlie Kirk was a bad person,
so I’m not the least bit bothered by Gen Z trolling him online.
There is, however, a morbid dimension to “Kirkification” that raises important questions about how AI impacts digital grief.
Of course, most of our dead loved ones didn’t make careers off of rage-baiting progressive 20-somethings,
so I suspect that my parents won’t be “Heatherified” and “Ryanified” when they kick the bucket.
But the prospect of recreating the likenesses of dead friends and family — for malicious purposes or not — demands that we re-evaluate the rapidly evolving landscape of digital grief.
That bereavement has gone virtual is not new. Far removed from the traditional wake-funeral-burial-mourn-move on ritual of yore, modern-day grieving is inextricably tied to digital space. We post obituaries online, share memories of lost loved ones on social media and seek solace in webbased support groups.
Already, psychologists have warned that, taken to an extreme, going online may harm bereaved people’s mental health through a process they’ve dubbed “grief looping.” They posit that the internet creates a peculiar kind of digital immortality by causing the bereaved to relive their experience of loss every time their dead loved ones pop up on their social media feeds.
AI takes grief looping to another level.
Imagine how harmful it might be for parents to grieve their dead children by using ChatGPT to recreate their voices — to hear them one last time. Processing loss becomes impossible when one is constantly reminded of it.
Of course, I would be remiss to write about “Kirkification” without
mentioning the political utility of AI-induced immortality.
While the left has used Kirk’s death as an opportunity to meme him, Evangelical megachurches have begun playing AI-generated voice clips of Kirk, asking the clergy to “get up and join the fight.”
Similarly, this August, parents of Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver used AI to recreate their son’s voice, using it as a medium to galvanize support for gun control.
In both instances, the wielders of AI pursued causes to which their subject likely would have been amenable. Kirk loved rallying Evangelicals against the left, and one would assume that a victim of preventable gun violence would support gun control.
Still, there’s something uncomfortable about reviving the dead for political ends, paradoxically weaponizing the voices of people who literally cannot speak for themselves.
It’s hard to advocate for government regulation of AI because, frankly, we’ve already opened Pandora’s box: deepfakes are everywhere — even the graveyard.
But I will conclude with a warning: the next time you lose a loved one, consider logging off. Your sanity may depend on it.
Cade Savoy is a 21-year-old political science and philosophy major from Breaux Bridge, La.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Jason Willis Editor in Chief
Olivia Tomlinson
Managing Editor
Courtney Bell News Editor
Chloe Richmond
Sports Editor
Garrett McEntee Opinion Editor
Don’t let MAGA own American symbolism
BERGERON’S BRIEFINGS
THOMAS BERGERON
Columnist
While utilizing American symbols for political gain is nothing new, recently, it feels like the American flag stopped belonging to all Americans. It’s almost as if the national anthem, the eagle and even the stories of the founding of this nation only belong at red hat rallies.
Democrats, liberals and leftists — I have a question for you. When you see someone waving an American flag, what is it you think? When someone identifies themselves as a “patriot,” how do you respond? If you feel a sense of revulsion and immediately reject these symbols as incompatible with your politics — congratulations, you are part of the problem. There is a reason why many Republicans think Democrats hate America, and it’s not just because they don’t understand your politics.
Trump’s MAGA didn’t invent this playbook, though. The origins of the “America First” movement stem from the 1850s, with nativist conjecture trying to define who exactly was a “real” American. If you were anything other than Anglo and Protestant, you were the enemy at the gate.
Fast forward to the 1980s: Ronald Reagan’s “shining city on a hill” fused Protestant Christianity, capitalism, and his own version of the American mythos into the identity of the Republican Party. MAGA simply took this established strategy of moral flag waving to cover for nativist, grievance-ridden politics. This strategy is employed to the point where any form of dissent is just simply un-American.
From the mass of red hats at rallies to the Trump Bible itself, MAGA made merchandise of so-called “patriotism.” And the imagery is everywhere: from stars-and-stripes flags and “FJB” stickers posted on the back of lifted trucks, to mighty ‘Murica eagles emblazoned on the front
Procedures
The Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Reveille is an independent entity of the Office of Student Media within the Manship School of Mass Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, The Reveille or the university. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to editor@lsu.edu or delivered to B-39 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must provide a contact phone number for verification purposes, which will not be printed. The Reveille reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration while preserving the original intent. The Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without notification of the author. Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Reveille’s editor in chief, hired every semester by the LSU Student Media Board, has final
of shirts, to red, white and blue AR-15s engraved with a Trump Punisher skull. The result? Any offense taken to these twisted, gaudy displays of American identity is met with accusations of being a “communist sympathizer” or “America hater.” It’s easy to make an enemy out of your opponent when you monopolize the lore of a nation. But remember, democratic systems require more than one player. The collective Left’s instinct to recoil from these displays of performative American virtue has served as a surrender to knee-jerk opposition. Yes that’s right, the very same closed-minded behavior that liberals accuse Trump’s followers of perpetrating. Rejecting American imagery or refusing to honestly tell our nation’s story isn’t subversion or protest — its abandonment. Avoiding the flag out of fear of association with right-wing politics isn’t resistance — its retreat.
I think it’s time to reclaim and re-contextualize the symbols of our nation, to quote the Pledge of Allegiance, “for all.” We have to remember that patriotism does not equal nationalism. That waving a flag and dumping tea in a harbor is not the most American thing you can do.
Instead, the legacy of the Founding Fathers is one that pushes for an involved, informed citizenry; those who are proud of their nation, actively involved in bettering their communities, and engaging in debate across ideological differences. As Alexander Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers, it is up to every American to build a government “from reflection and choice, not accident or force.”
As George Washington warned, “Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.” The symbols of our great nation don’t belong to those who shout the loudest or fly the biggest flag. They belong to every citizen willing to help their fellow man achieve life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Thomas Bergeron is a 25-yearold graduate student from Baton Rouge.
GRAPHIC BY KALEB SEARLE